The affordable convertible is back in fashion.
Some 35 years on from the unveiling of the seminal Mazda MX-5 Miata, 2024 is shaping up to be the year of the roadster’s return, with not one but several droptops (or targas) looming that will triple our choice and – hopefully – lead to a new wave of attainable sports cars.
Though a coincidence that there will be such a sudden influx in two years, 2024 does actually mark anniversaries for three of the makes and models in question.
With a world weary of pandemics, politics and oppression, what better way to bid farewell to the Boring Twenties and make way for the Roaring Twenties than with this list of terrific future sunseekers.
2024 MG Cyberster
Previewed by a concept car of the same name last year, the MG Cyberster will mark Chinese brand MG’s historic 100th anniversary in 2024, with a production model that simultaneously harks back and looks forward to the future.
Thanks to widely-published patent office drawings released just days ago, we now know what the final product will look like as well, revealing another piece of a puzzle that’s been in the making for a number of years now.
While featuring some fairly obvious Ferrari and McLaren front-end styling inspiration, the production Cyberster’s profile and proportions bear a family resemblance to the mid-engine MG F (1995) and its TF (2002) successor. The latter lived on for four years after the collapsed Rover Group sold the brand to China’s SAIC in 2007.
This nod to the past is probably deliberate, to re-establish MG as a maker of two-seater open-top sports cars. But it also is steeped in future thinking, since the 2024 Cyberster is expected to adopt an all-new electric architecture, offering a rear-mounted single-motor as well as optional rear/front-mounted dual-motor versions.
The latter is said to bring blistering acceleration and performance, by the way. Whether the fastest version can achieve a sub-3.0-second sprint-time to 100km/h or 800km of range on a single charge remains to be seen.
Being a production vehicle, the newcomer seems to abandon some of the 2021 Cyberster concept’s flights of fancy, including the oversized front air dam, camera door mirrors and outlandish wheels.
Whatever transpires in MG’s showrooms in two years’ time, after nearly a decade of cheap and dull hatchbacks and SUVs, the 2024 Cyberster is a restoration of the brand’s pre-21st Century status.
MG started life as a modifier of Morris cars in 1924 (the initials stand for Morris Garages), and for generations, the brand came to embody fun motoring thanks to inexpensive low-slung two-seater roadsters based on mundane sedans made from the 1930s through to the late 1970s.
After the wilderness years of simply being badge-engineered go-faster versions of Morris and later Austin small cars, the 1995 MG F successfully resurrected the old formula but with an exotic mid-engined, rear-drive twist, to take on the phenomenon that was – and remains – the Mazda MX-5…
2024 Mazda NE MX-5
We’re hoping that Mazda is considering unveiling its all-new MX-5 to coincide with the original NA series’ 35th anniversary on February 10, 2024.
Regardless, we understand that the Japanese brand that singlehandedly revived the decaying roadster concept as an after-hours skunkworks project in the 1980s by a bunch of dedicated enthusiasts, engineers and designers, and then went on and define an era and influence scores of sports cars that followed, is at it again.
Not much is known about what the NE MX-5 will be, except that it will likely be a reskin of the current ND model that debuted in 2014 with fresh styling inside and out, retain an evolution of its rear-drive architecture, employ versions of the existing 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with or without available mild-hybrid tech (depending on market) and try to stay as close to 1000kg as possible.
It’s also worth noting that a variation of the Mazda3 and CX-30’s controversial SkyActiv-X 2.0-litre unit, featuring spark-controlled compression ignition and a supercharger to maximise combustion efficiency, might step up as the basis for all MX-5 engines for the next-gen roadster. Who knows? How or even if the recently-discontinued 1.5-litre SkyActiv-G engine fits in also remains to be seen.
Reports out earlier this year suggested that Mazda may be contemplating a multi electric-motor approach further down the track towards 2030, allowing for next-level performance as well as all-wheel drive capability, but such costly, weighty moves seem at odds with the MX-5’s core lightness is best ethos.
Whatever happens, the fact Mazda is thought to be putting the finishing touches to yet another MX-5 should be music to the ears of all motoring enthusiasts the world over.
2024 Toyota MR2
While various rumours are being bandied about, virtually nothing concrete is known about the coming entry-level Toyota sports car, or even if it may actually revive a name made famous from 1984 (to 2007) and so ripe for a 40th-anniversary revival in 2024.
But fingers crossed, since Toyota has published photos of 17 future electric vehicles, including the targa-style EV Sport two-seater coupe that may eventually morph into the long-rumoured MR2 Spyder replacement.
Not strictly a roadster, then, but a convertible all the same, and something that can take on the beautiful Mazda MX-5 RF (Retractable Fastback) that brings open-top motoring without too much exposure to the elements.
Other reports suggest that Toyota may be collaborating with Suzuki and in-house minicar brand Daihatsu (remember them?), on an affordable mid-engined sports car, with 2025 set as a target launch date. According to BestCarWeb, it will primarily be engineered by Suzuki, to help keep prices down. At this stage, it’s anybody’s guess what’s going on at Toyota.
But we’re confident of one thing: inexpensive convertibles are on their way back.
Other carmakers also said to be developing drop tops include Volkswagen (with a convertible version of the ID.3 hatchback and successor to the VW Golf Cabriolet), Fiat (the 500e EV cabriolet is expected in Australia as early as next year) and Mini, with the coming Convertible EV expected by 2025.
There are more coming besides, so please watch this space.
Keyword: Look out, 2024 Mazda MX-5! Reborn Toyota MR2 Spyder and MG Cyberster electric car set to spark roadster revival - and they're coming much sooner than you think